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VANCOUVER — Out-of-contract captain Jay DeMerit, whose future as a Vancouver Whitecap will be up to the man who becomes the new head coach, says he believes players want an experienced voice calling the shots.

The veteran centre back, who was at the news conference at which president Bob Lenarduzzi confirmed Tuesday that Martin Rennie would not be back after two seasons at the helm, said the affable, exceedingly positive 38-year-old Scotsman was a “great part of the progression” of the three-year-old MLS franchise.

“But saying that, I think that at key times, experience does matter,” said DeMerit, who returned from a five-month layoff after rupturing an Achilles tendon in the regular-season opener to be a key figure in the late – and ultimately unsuccessful -- push for a playoff spot.

Rennie never played the game at a high level and coached in second-tier leagues in North America before joining the Caps before the 2012 season.

“As a player, you want a coach who has been there. You want a coach with experience and you want a coach that can lead you in the right direction when it really, really matters. That’s what separates the great ones from the really good ones.”

Despite his relative inexperience, Rennie, at his hiring, was trumpeted by Lenarduzzi as a young coach the club could grow with.

But Rennie’s inability to quickly pull the club out of second-half slides in each of his two seasons amid questions about tactics and formations and his out-of-position use of key players cost him his job.

Lenarduzzi cited the team’s inconsistency – although what MLS club didn’t go through bouts of that in a 2013 season of unprecedented parity – and the failure to meet key benchmarks, namely the playoffs and a Canadian championship title, as the rationale behind the firing. Vancouver went on a 7-1-2 run after losing the Canadian title to Montreal, but followed that with a 4-7-4 stretch to close out the season.

But in reality, Rennie’s dismissal almost certainly came down to the fact that Lenarduzzi and owners Greg Kerfoot and Jeff Mallet didn’t believe he was capable of making the necessary adjustments, recruiting the right players and getting the total buy-in required from veteran players to take the club to the next level.

Rennie, who was 24-25-19 in his two seasons, said in a statement on the club’s website that he is convinced the club “is now poised to contend for trophies at every level.”

Lenarduzzi, Kerfoot, Mallet, chief operating officer Rachel Lewis and Greg Anderson, director of professional teams, made up the five-member management committee that made the decision to let Rennie go. Lenarduzzi wouldn’t answer directly when asked if it was unanimous, saying only that there was consensus.

Lenarduzzi insisted the club had not, before Tuesday, spoken to any potential coaching candidates despite the widespread speculation that two-time MLS coach of the year Frank Yallop, who was fired by San Jose in June, is at the top of their list. Yallop, 49, has ties to Vancouver, was a former head coach of the Canadian national team and has spent time with Mallet given that they both live in the Bay Area.

Lenarduzzi said MLS experience is important, “but I don’t want to suggest that’s the sole determiner.”

He said management will interview “as many candidates as we can. What we don’t want to do is take an overly lengthy time with that process, but we want to be as thorough as possible.”

Besides Yallop, it’s quite likely that assistant coach Carl Robinson, a former Welsh international who played with Toronto and New York in MLS from 2007-2011, will get an interview. Robinson is extremely popular with several Caps’ players, particularly scoring leader Camilo.

Despite not meeting the committee’s “benchmarks,” Rennie did turn the Caps into an entertaining, high-scoring team. Vancouver’s 53 goals scored was tied for fourth in the league.

“Personally, I’ve always been a fan of a high-tempo game, a pressing game,” said Lenarduzzi. “Some of the qualities that we showed this year, obviously we’d like to see that again next year.”

Yallop, whose Earthquake teams were sometimes criticized for their bash-and-crash style of soccer, did, however, guide a 2012 team that scored a remarkable 72 goals en route to the Supporters’ Shield trophy.

Lenarduzzi said he believes the Caps have a core group of players that can make a run at a championship. And he noted that the club’s residency program is beginning to show dividends with winger Russell Teibert earning significant playing time this season and teenage fullback Sam Adekugbe making a positive MLS debut last Sunday.

He wants a new coach to ensure that those residency program players do get a good look.

“But the margin of error is so fine that you really are looking for someone who can get you to that next level when it matters the most, down the stretch and in the playoffs.”

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Whitecaps oust Martin Rennie as head coach as inconsistent team falls short of 'benchmarks'

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